"Serena! Look what I found!" Shuyi said, walking into the indoor arena, seeing the familiar woman lunge Midnight Mayhem, a well known Thoroughbred at the stable. "What is it?" Serena asked, bringing the high strung horse to a halt, only to walk over to the eager female.
"It's an ad for a medieval challenge. Don't you think it looks fun?"
"Sure, but we don't have the horse, nor the person for it."
"I could do it!" Shuyi begged, practically jumping up and down, scaring the sensitive Thoroughbred slightly.
"No. You have to work on your riding, not fool around. I'll look around to see if someone else can."
And so they got a famous archer at the stable.
The only problem was, he couldn't ride. At all.
When the archer arrived, it was decided he would be riding Backdallas, the calm and sweet north swedish draft. He was already fit for the job, seeing as he was already used to crowds and most objects that horses spook at.
It was definitely hard in the start, due to Alec's lack of experience. Combine that with a dressage horse that responds to almost everything, and you are bound to get a disaster the first time.
Unfortunately they didn't have any helmet that fit, and so Serena prayed Dallas would be a good teacher.
Well, she wasn't completely wrong.
"I don't think he likes me," Alec sighed, getting up from the ground as Dallas ran to the gate, hoping to get back into his stall to enjoy some hay. Serena chuckled, "you have to let him know you're the boss. Right now, he thinks he can do whatever he wants with you."
Back on the horse he goes.
As the days went by, Alec got better slowly but surely. Though Serena didn't bother to teach him as much as she should have, the canter was the most important. Which is why they mainly focused on it.
"You're getting better!" Serena smiled, watching as the two walked towards her, foam at the mouth of Dallas. Because he'd been out of work for a while, the sessions were tiring.
"It's all thanks to Dallas," Alec said, patting the stallion's thick neck.
"Ever thought of becoming a rider?"
"I haven't, but I think I'll re-consider after this."
It was the big day.
All the training lead up to this, a minute of running across the arena, shooting arrows at sacks of god knows what.
A loud horn was heard, signaling that it was their turn to enter the arena. Alec mounted Dallas, and was handed a bow from Serena. "Good luck out there," She said, patting Dallas' hind. The stallion stood impatient, ready to go.
The crowd fell silent, watching as the horse pranced in, breaking into a fast canter. Alec felt the nerves now, and the world was going by so fast.
Taking a deep breath, he lifted the bow, taking a hold of an arrow.
And so the crowd cheered, for the arrows hit bullseye.
